This mannequin head was used to drive in the I-93 HOV lane.Credit: Massachusetts State Police

A driver trying to get around the Interstate 93 gridlock Thursday morning was busted when a Massachusetts State Police trooper noticed that his passenger was kind of a dummy.

Trooper John Carnell was working a detail near the HOV lane on the Expressway at about 6:30 a.m. when he noticed a driver enter the carpool lane with what appeared to be a counterfeit passenger, police said.

The trooper pulled over the driver and found that he'd affixed a mannequin head to the top of a work jacket that was propped up in attempt to create the illusion of a second passenger, state police said. Cars must carry at least two people in order to use the HOV lane.

It is far from the first time a person has used any means necessary to avoid the dead stop that is Expressway traffic. State police said Carnell also caught a woman last year who was using a full-size doll in an attempt to use the HOV lane.